EW spoke to Sons of Anarchy  and Staten Island native  Theo Rossi (Juice Ortiz), who was home visiting family and friends when Sandy hit. Hes remained there ever since and gave us this first-hand account of the devastation.

Its so bad here, a lot worse than how its being portrayed by the media. They are finding bodies left and right, elderly people who dont even watch the news or who knew the storm was coming. I was just with one of my best friends from high school and college, and his house is completely gone. One story I heard was about this one guy who evacuated his house during Hurricane Irene but then it got looted. So when they told him to evacuate for Sandy, he said, Im not leaving. Now they cant find him, his 13-year-old daughter is dead, and his wife is in critical condition at the hospital. These are the stories. My stepfather and my mother, I love them to death. But when they heard the storm was coming, they said, Its not going to be that bad. Irene didnt do anything. They had two flashlights and a couple of scented candles. Little did they know. Its just not worth it. If youre told to evacuate, you need to get out.

The one weird thing is how there is no power. The other weird thing is how theres no gas. To get gas requires a three-and-a-half hour wait. Its like this odd, post-apocalyptic kind of thing. Most trees are down. Power lines are down. Its like a movie, or like The Walking Dead. You cant believe it. Especially when you grow up here. I moved to Los Angeles in 1999, but this has always been my home. Theres the place I kissed a girl, thats the place I played handball. I know this island in and out. To see it completely destroyed is bizarre.

Ive been trying to hit every shelter on Staten Island to do what I can, just to make people smile. A lot of people know me and know Im from here. My flight has been changed six times now. Finally, I got a flight for Sunday. Then, the city decides they are going ahead with the New York City Marathon. The bridges will be closed, so I cant get to the airport. How are they doing a marathon when most people dont have power? On top of it, the hotels in Manhattan have been nice enough to put up people who have no homes. They are charging them $200 as opposed to $700 a night. But now they are throwing these people out because theyve got people from all over the world coming to run the marathon. They are throwing out the survivors! So I call Jet Blue and say I cant fly Sunday because I cant get from Staten Island to JFK Airport. And they said Okay Theo. They know me know because Ive been calling them every 15 minutes. They say, Theo, we can get you on a flight Friday. I say book it! I call up the car service, and they say, We cant pick you up, we have no gas. All my friends on Staten Island say, How are we going to get you there? We have no gas. And the people who do have gas, dont want to waste it going to JFK. So Ive got to call and change my flight again. Now Im leaving Monday. Everybody says if we dont have gas in our cars by Monday, if the roads arent clear by Monday, thats it were throwing in the towel.

Im really glad Im here to help and do anything, but Ive never seen anything like this. Im just glad Im here with my family. A shout out and thank you to all the amazing city workers who have been working around the clock. Police, fire, sanitation. You all are the true fabric of this city.

Doesn’t matter the MSM did got their talking points from the WH, and along with Christie helped push the President back to having all the mo with a few days left. Just like they all got their talking points to make a shaky job report seem wonderful for Obama.

THe damage is done. We can’t win with the bastards in the media running interference for their black messiah socialist.
Did you think they’d let a black man lose his second term?
Whatever it takes even ignoring the people in need in NJ and NY or the millions still unemployed.

News 12 New Jersey was very blunt about some catastrophic scenarios; one guy said “80% of NJ will lose powere”. I don’t know what percentage actually lost power, and I know ours was turned off deliberately (and therefore we got it back withing a few days), but that guy’s prediction made me prepare for a long-term problem instead of a short-term one.

Makes me wonder, why is nobody gathering to picket the media themselves and holding them to account for their actions? If they take a political bias and repeat one side’s talking points while ignoring all else, they become political players and should face all the slings and arrows along with “their man.”

I'd say that's fairly typical. I heard one radio interview of a NYC resident who said, "We're gonna' stay put and watch some movies. Ride it out. I got some flashlights for the kids, and two cans of beans. It's gonna' be great!" Yup. Just great.

12
posted on 11/02/2012 12:29:21 PM PDT
by PowderMonkey
(WILL WORK FOR AMMO)

Sounds to me like he’s not doing anything to help but hey, he got his Cheers where everybody knows your name publicity. Running around smiling at people isn’t getting those downed trees cleared away. Being on his cell every 15 minutes booking a flight isn’t helping his neighborhood. He’s preaching evacuate so why didn’t he?

16
posted on 11/02/2012 12:40:13 PM PDT
by bgill
(Evil doers are in every corner of our government. Have we passed the point of no return?)

He’s trying to keep people’s spirits up and God bless him for that, its more than most celebs in new york are doing. I like his show, he’s a really good actor and he’s standing up saying “hey, you all are being lied to about conditions here” again, its more than others are doing.

21
posted on 11/02/2012 12:52:34 PM PDT
by chae
(I was anti-Obama before it was cool)

He’s trying to keep people’s spirits up and God bless him for that, its more than most celebs in new york are doing. I like his show, he’s a really good actor and he’s standing up saying “hey, you all are being lied to about conditions here” again, its more than others are doing.

22
posted on 11/02/2012 12:53:29 PM PDT
by chae
(I was anti-Obama before it was cool)

Saying Hurricane Sandy exceeded its own estimates of damage, the Long Island Power Authority now predicts it may take some Long Islanders longer than the 10 days it predicted to restore power as it builds up an army of about 5,000 workers.

More than 534,000 customers are still without power as of Friday morning, according to LIPA.

I heard one radio interview of a NYC resident who said, "We're gonna' stay put and watch some movies. Ride it out. I got some flashlights for the kids, and two cans of beans. It's gonna' be great!"

That guy obviously knew there would be a power outage or he wouldn't have given the kids flashlights but please explain how the heck he was going to watch movies without power. After a couple movies, his dvd batteries are gone along with the beans. Fine if a single person wants to be stupid but it's unacceptable for a person with kids.

25
posted on 11/02/2012 12:57:59 PM PDT
by bgill
(Evil doers are in every corner of our government. Have we passed the point of no return?)

Saying Hurricane Sandy exceeded its own estimates of damage, the Long Island Power Authority now predicts it may take some Long Islanders longer than the 10 days it predicted to restore power as it builds up an army of about 5,000 workers.

More than 534,000 customers are still without power as of Friday morning, according to LIPA.

We went through the “no power” drill last year with the October blizzard.

Day 1—amusing change
Day 2—get to know the spouse since there is no TV
Day 3—everyone starting to get edgy
Day 4—everyone is edgy
Day 5—Keep everyone away from sharp objects
Day 6—Make plans to get outta town!

Fortunately for us power came back on in day 6.

The problem for LI/NJ/Staten Island is
there may not be enough gas to leave town.

You do not want to be an incumbent politician if the power is still out by Tuesday and the locals are stuck in town (day 8).

32
posted on 11/02/2012 1:36:24 PM PDT
by cgbg
(No bailouts for New York and California. Let them eat debt.)

Alcohol must have played a part in this, ‘cause I’m still trying to figure out how he equated preparedness with having, not one, but TWO cans of beans. He sounded sooo eager and ready for the impending storm.

36
posted on 11/02/2012 3:48:54 PM PDT
by PowderMonkey
(WILL WORK FOR AMMO)

[Updated at 7:58 p.m.] The Defense Logistics Agency, at President Barack Obama's direction, will buy up to 12 million gallons of unleaded fuel and up to 10 million gallons of diesel to bring to the areas hardest hit by this week's storm, FEMA said in a press release.

Transported on tanker trucks, the fuel will head toward New York, New Jersey and other areas that are experiencing severe gas shortages in the wake of Sandy.

[Updated at 7:37 p.m. ET] President Obama has authorized tapping the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve and distributing that fuel to "state, local and federal responders in the New York/New Jersey area," the U.S. Energy Department announced.

The fuel - which is loaned by the Energy Department, who will pass it onto Defense Department - will help power generators, water pumps, buildings, trucks and other vehicles. About 2 million gallons of fuel will be drawn down, with the Defense Department expected to replenish the stock within 30 days.

-----------

Why did it take so long? Rick Perry had tanker trucks of gas dispatched immediately during the Rita evacuations.

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